Kingdom Hearts III Will Have More Crazy Keyblade Transformations

The Keyblade started out as a simple weapon in the first Kingdom Hearts. In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, we saw it take the shape of a vehicle. In Kingdom Hearts III’s latest trailer, we saw it turn into a gun, and according to series creator Tetsuya Nomura’s latest Famitsu magazine interview, that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Back in October, we got to see the latest footage of Kingdom Hearts III, that showed some of the game’s new features. Famitsu asks Nomura about his thoughts on its reaction.

“It seems like everyone was happy, so I’m glad about that,” says Nomura. “However, while we know how far we’ve come from a development point of view, what we showed still has ‘ways to go’.”

The latest trailer showed actions that utilized attraction park objects. Famitsu asks if we’ll be seeing other gimmicks, similar to the ones Square have revealed already.

“The ‘Attraction Flow,’ allows you to choose moves according to different places and enemies, and especially so during boss fights where you’ll be able to pull off unique moves,” answers Nomura. “This is an evolution of Kingdom Hearts 3D’s Flowmotion, and will be one of Kingdom Hearts III’s main systems.”

On the subject of new systems, Famitsu brings up the Keyblade transformation we got to see in the trailer.

“In the trailer, we saw it transform into the shape of a gun, but there are also some other unbelievable transformations,” says Nomura. He adds with a laugh, “The other day, when we were checking it out, the staff member said ‘it turns into ____’ and I impulsively replied with, ‘Are you serious?’”

Famitsu jokes that the Keyblade no longer seems to be just a weapon anymore, as we’ve seen it used as a vehicle in Birth by Sleep.

“According to suggestions from the planning side, it’ll likely be used as some sort of gimmick. The Keyblade has infinite possibilies,” answers Nomura with a laugh.

We recently found out that Kingdom Hearts III and Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix are currently being developed simultaneously by the Osaka team. During the interview, Nomura also reveals that at the moment, he is working on Kingdom HeartsIII’s scenario, and has been keeping himself quite busy with all the writing and editing.

Kingdom Hearts III is currently in development for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Ooooooooo-man. I forgot about her- personally not my favorite but I agree, she’s probably going to be in the game. I just hope they don’t turn it into : Kingdom Hearts III: Lighting’s Game. Hoping for Fran from 12. Or Yang from 4!!!

Nanaki

You mean like Kingdom Hearts: Cloud’s Game?
Honestly I can see her having as much of a role in the newest game as Cloud and Leon had in the first and second.

하세요

I don’t see Fran making it. She’s a little too…revealing if you ask me. Target audience is just difference. I can see Vaan and Penello, though.

SerChief

They can tone her down a bit; they did for Tifa using her AC instead of her original. But yeah; Vaan and Penello would be great too. Or a little Kimahri from FFX would be too cute. He hasn’t been in anything yet.

Altumn

LOL! Too revealing, but they added YuRiPa in KH II, so they’ll find away around that. Besides its just as short as Kairi’s skirt in KHII.

SiliconNooB

IMO you’d only have to worry about that if Motomu Toriyama was directing…

Chaos_Knight

I would actually be surprised if she didn’t make it in.

Bobby Jennings

Nah. Lightning had her own game(Dissidia 012 somewhat) I think Noctis will make it in this one.

SiliconNooB

Assuming that KHIII comes after XV…

Bobby Jennings

It’s obvious that it will. Unlike XV which is very deep in development, KHIII has just truly lifted off

SiliconNooB

I don’t think that it’s in any way obvious that it will. It might, but it also might not. XV has been in development hell for a long time.

The Last Guardian is deep in development, but I’m not going to put money on it coming out before Uncharted 4.

Bobby Jennings

Oh boy, that’s way different. Both of these games are being worked on by one team. You’re comparing that to two games being worked on by two different developers.

Also once again, KH has just started development while XV is further in. I don’t think for a second that KH is coming first no matter how much I may want it to.

SiliconNooB

They’re not being worked on by the same team. XV is being worked on by the team that made KH I&II, while KHIII is being worked on by the team who made the handheld KH titles.

Bobby Jennings

They’re both being worked on by the Osaka Studio.

SiliconNooB

The same team can’t work on XV at the same time as KHIII. Nomura originally intended to have the KHI/KHII/XV team work on KHIII once they were finished XV, but eventually the project was switched over to the team that made BbS and KH3D.

For the most part, the only personnel that will be common across both projects will be Director, producers, composer, and art.

Bobby Jennings

That’s the point I’m trying to make. That’s why I believe that XV will come first.

SiliconNooB

They’ve been working on it for an awful long while though. Maybe that will mean it’s near release, but maybe it means that production is a little bogged down through either setbacks or ambition.

The Portable KH team on the other hand has shown itself to operate like a well-oiled machine, and the KH games tend to be structured a little more simply than the FF games [XIII not withstanding], so all that I’m saying is that there is the possibility that they might surprise people with respect to release dates – though if that does prove to be the case, then XV would be in pretty serious trouble.

Arcana Wiz

isnt that a given? i mean its very probably that SE will have a lot of Light cameos now that her saga ended.

Kaitsu

Kingdom Hearts 3: LIghting Co-

Wait, that’ll sound weird.

SerChief

O my! :0

Anime10121

I’d play it :P

Rayhan PromisedGallery

she will become one of the 7 lights

Pockystix

they kinda ruined Vivi in 2, so even though I want more FFIX representation. . . I’m just going to say pass on it lol

Would be nice to see someone like Faris though; Bifauxen to throw off all the fans lol

Gemlit

Actually, they really didn’t really ruin Vivi. They made him into sort of an enemy a la Black Mages from FFIX. And that was in some sort of mirror world. Who knows how he’s going to be established in the next game. Maybe he’ll find Zidane and man up, lol.

Pockystix

honestly, a character as strong as Vivi really deserved better than being a mook in some random simulation thing. And he’s more of a man than most characters.

Gemlit

How else would have Vivi been introduced? Remember how Vivi acted in the beginning of the game to the very end? How long has Vivi acted manly? It’s most likely because for the duration of the time he’s spent in that game as a mook.

Arcana Wiz

MOAR DISNEY CHARACTERS!!!

SerChief

Hellz yea! I want me some Mary Poppins XD

Nice Boat Quatro

Mary Poppins beating up some Heartless while singing

Ridho Siregar

Rapunzel… Anna… Elsa… oh pretty girls…

TrueDefault

or Pixar!!! Marvel!! Star Wars!! I’m so happy Disney bought so many producers!

I would like that… actually i would luv that! Aqua was my favorite character in BBS

Pockystix

it’s funny, but she probably was the most active member of the three. While the other two (avoiding spoilers) kind of mucked up a LOT of things, she came to save the day. . . even if things didn’t wind up so good for her. . .

Anime10121

Well SHE did more to muck up things for Sora and Co than Terra or Ven ever did…

OathkeeperSoraXIII

Like what?

(spoilers)

It was Terra who was too blind and naive to see that Xehanort was playing him. Aqua told Terra on several occasions that he was getting too close to the darkness, which lead to Xehanort taking control, let’s not forget how Terra took princess Aurora’s heart because once again he couldn’t control the darkness. Ven just didn’t listen to Aqua, full stop. She told him to go back to Eraqus in Maleficent’s castle and then again in the Radiant Garden. Those two not listening to Aqua is what caused everything to be mess up for Sora and co.

Pockystix

it’s at times like this I wish Siliconera had that black bar-option for spoiler text lol

OathkeeperSoraXIII

Definitely agree with you there!

Bobby Jennings

Definitely.

Anime10121

I was kinda joking, but she still ended up giving Xehanort an easy entrance back into the “regular world” while trapping herself in the darkness for over 10 years (both extreme muck ups).

Ven never “really” did anything wrong, because he never became the blade, and Terra, while stupidly following orders, was stupidly following orders of a man infinitely more wise and powerful (even if darker) than he. Aqua of her own free will, and with the mind/heart of a keyblade master, chose to let a maniacally dark genius out on the loose in the standard realm, thusly trapping herself in the realm of darkness for over 10 years when she could have been the one to help train guide Riku (vs Xehanort doing so instead), all because of the oft chance that Terra would resurface.

I’d say she had the biggest muck up :P Doesnt mean I dont love her, but she, is the source of ALL XEHANORTS minus the old one:P

OathkeeperSoraXIII

I thought about what if Terra/Xehanort did fall into the dark realm, honestly it would have only been a matter of time before he got out anyway. Xehanort most likely knows the dark realm like the back of his hand. Aqua would’ve been at a huge disadvantage if they had to fight there. I think you’re also forgetting that Yen Sid and Mickey were in the realm of Light. So it’s not like she sent him up to the realm with no one protecting it.

Aqua was in a lose-lose situation regardless (which is why I find her story the most tragic(?) out of the 3) but I wouldn’t say she messed up. The source of ALL the Xehanorts should surely be down to Ansem the Wise should it not? it was his research of the heart that led Xehanort to do devise the plan of creating 13 hearts of pure darkness, using himself lol

Edit- Ven did become the blade though, but Aqua and Mickey quickly put an end to it and shattered it.

Anime10121

Yeah Terranort would have gotten out on his own eventually, but Aqua never had to jump in to begin with… but thats just my opinion on the matter :P Two keyblade masters would have been better than 1 and a half (Mickey and Yensid who no longer wields).

But if you REALLY wanna get technical about it, the source of all Xehanorts is Braig, as he’s the one who brought Ansem to a defeated Terranort, which inadvertently caused the chain of events that led to our current predicament :P

OathkeeperSoraXIII

(spoilers)
True, she didn’t have to. But Terra was still showing signs of fighting for control of his heart when she faced him, naturally she’d want to try and save him. Because he showed signs of breaking free. Also, one thing that bothers me is in the ending when Braig asks Xehanort ‘You’re not, Terra? Just gotta check?’

To which we never got a response and also Xehanorts eyes weren’t yellow at that time (they’re brown, maybe Eraqus had control? Since he was said to be in Terra’s heart too). Where as they were when he was being controlled before then. Just a theory but what if Terra did regain control for a while? Only to be taken over later on. Master Xehanort did say himself (just before that scene with Braig to Terra) that he’s a patient man. Could be that he was just holding out on the right time

Anime10121

I always thought the same thing about that scene…

Still so much mystery about Terra and Xehanorts body relationship so far… This is gonna be a LONG few years…

Pockystix

Without giving much away (‘cuz this goes into dangerous spoiler territory) Her actions may have had some consequences down the line, but she also did them for much, much more noble reasons. . . and it cost her a lot as well.

Anime10121

Lol, I know, but she still fudged up things a bit for Soriku and the worlds at large :P

CptPokerface

I really have to get KH 1.5 and 2.5 when it comes out. It’s been so long since I’ve played a Kingdom Hearts games and I would love to revisit the first two games to really see the series evolution.

Kitestwinblades

Tri-Keyblade Quad-Keyblade Mecha-Keyblade
I actually really want to know what that staff member said to Nomura…
because at this point we could make a guessing game out of that blank and the results can get pretty disturbing ._.

Mavalex

The Keyblade will become a key!
wait…

Arcana Wiz

Plot twist! The keyblade final transformation that will save the universe from the darkness will be a key of some sorts!

Rayhan PromisedGallery

Tengen Tonpaa Keyblade Lagann

Thrasher429

My key is the key that unlocks the heavens!!!

Kitestwinblades

It doesn’t get much more epic than that xD

Anime10121

You sir win!

Göran Isacson

I’m a little bit skeptical about ‘Attraction Flow’. Mostly I’m scared that when they say “moves according to different enemies”, what they mean is a similar system to KH2 where you had a triangle attack for each enemy and it mostly turned into a game of alternating between hammering Triangle and the attack button. Special movements based on the environments is what we had in 3D and I liked that, so I’m hoping that this will not just be “press Triangle to summon a Ride that will take you on an automated beatdown of the enemy”, more like 3D’s system where you can move around really fast and avoid the enemys enormous attacks by say, swooping from one side of the arena to the other in a few seconds flat. With good camera-control, of course.

Keyblade Transformations are still cool though. I wonder if there will be a list of transformations that ALL Keyblades can turn into, or if it will be like a special meter that will fill up as you fight, and when you fill it you can activate a special form of the particular Keyblade you have equipped: kind of like Command Styles from Birth By Sleep. I’m kind of hoping for the former more than the latter, if only because the former feels like it could open for more interesting battles if you could swap to a weapon with a whole new move-set mid-fight.

Also, Key-Chucks. Just… roll that idea around in your head for a while. Key-Chucks. It could be so awesome. So very, very awesome. Turning into a Glider and running down enemies is fine too.

You’re putting too much attention on attraction flow, as Nomura has said, it is entirely optional and is meant to be just a gimmick.

Göran Isacson

Huh, that’s the first I hear of it being optional. Since this interview states it’s a further development of flowmotion, which was quite necessary in 3D, I thought it would be of similar importance.

Chaos_Knight

Anyone notice the path to The Old Mansion is gone?

deadMastershiro

Nice find!

Rayhan PromisedGallery

Still early build of the game

Chaos_Knight

Since they are remaking Twilight Town in HD, wouldn’t they be aware of the path not being there? I think it could be intentional, but who knows.

Warboss Aohd

can it turn into a Chainsword or Bolter?

Anthony Birken

~May not be coming anytime soon, but my body is ready~…I’m always ready~

Kaihedgie

Here’s a question I don’t think anyone’s asked before: will they ever use the prototype design for Sora? The furry one that Nomura actually went back and revamped for the limited addition of 1.5 ReMix?

하세요

Probably not because, well, it was a prototype. Every game has them. Just because it was in character design doesn’t mean it needs to be in it.

Kaihedgie

” that Nomura actually went back and revamped for the limited addition of 1.5 ReMix?”

하세요

It was just to show us what it was before. It was a very shocking interesting fact. I really don’t think anyone wants that now.

Kaihedgie

Says who?

Göran Isacson

He revamped it? Think that’s the first time I’ve heard of it, do you mean that the artwork redrawn in that little artbook the limited edition featured?

hazelnut1112

Come on PC port announcement. It can definitely happen since PC has access to all the games and PS4, Xbone and PC have the same architecture, so porting to either one won’t be a problem for developers anymore, especially Japanese developers.

RoyalR R.M

There’s a thing called Exclusive.

하세요

It’s not always about whether a system can handle it. There’s also something called Target Demographic. Most, if not all KH fans own Sony systems. It still does cost to put it on another platform, and if there’s no profit then why bother?

hazelnut1112

“Most KH fans own Sony systems”
Yet they are making it for the Xbone as well. So why no broaden up the platforms for it?
Nomura already said that he will make FFXV and KH3 for PC if there is a lot of demand for it, a lot of people that own PCs also either own a PS3 or Wii/U. Plus I doubt people would want to spend $400 on a machine with meh exclusives on the horizon while PS3 is still getting new games.

Do you know what every KH title has done on the platforms they’ve been released? KHII FM maxed out the PS2, so much so, that they had to remove a lot of content. KHIIFM is actually 200mb from filling up the entire disc.

358/2 Days pulled off PS1 graphics on a DS, which even shocked Nintendo, same goes for RECoded. Birth By Sleep had to include extra ram options that were normally only available to PSP hackers with CFW installed. KH3D actually pushes the 3DS to its limits as well.

Kingdom Hearts III will benefit from the PS4 because of Nomura’s crazy development ideas that often get scrapped. This time he can actually do everything he wants, and still have room for so much more than before.

PS3, 360, and Wii U would just limit his vision, which is something that no one wants.

hazelnut1112

I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say but I am really looking forward to what Nomura can dish out with new technology if that’s what you’re saying.

He basically utilizes each console the series is on to its max. PS3, 360 and Wii U is just out of the question at this point, since he’d likely have to hold back on a lot of what he wants added.

I was under the impression that you suggested a past-gen port of KH III, which would do more harm than good. I apologize if I read that wrong. ^^;

Anyway, what I was saying is that PS4 and Xbone are almost as strong as a PC at this point; I will not say they are though…nor will they ever be, so the possibilities for KHIII are almost limitless at this point.

FlyingPony

Perhaps its something to do with majority of its fanbase is in Japan, where PC gaming is non existence. Make sense to jump into the more famous platform, which is Sony there.

Why it make into Xbone? I would say I suspect Microsoft pay them lots of money to port the game, so some Sony exclusive games will not be a weight in consumers consideration in which next gen console to grab. Same thing happen with Metal Gear Solid V with the exclusive content.

hazelnut1112

True, but at the same time Japanese developers are now looking into making games for the PC. We are slowly getting more PC support from Japanese developers and it shows with games like KoF 13, Ys series, Final Fantasy, Revengeance and Dark Souls. There is an audience and more people are slowly converting with the popularity of Steam.

Well actually, Nomura has said he wants both this and XV on the PC as well and that Square Enix is “Exploring their options”.

So if it does show up…it won’t really be a surprise to most.

Shady Shariest

Yup. It has been even said that the version they made on PC of XV was downgraded for next-gen-consoles :x

Warren

Is anyone else starting to become less obsessed with KH? The game development is slower than molasses (started playing in 6th grade and now about to graduate from college) and i feel that KH3 will have less story and emotion and more shooter and action because of a certain collaboration. But if Riku or someone else has more playability and purpose in the story I could forgive the long delay.

mike dickson

patients guy thats all u need

Herok♞

You litterally spend half of KH:DDD as Riku and he had more important story and plot there

Warren

Yeah but that’s a side game for hype, i mean a KH with a number in the title.

Herok♞

Recoded, Chain of memories, and Days were all side games, BbS and DDD were as important to story as 1 and 2.

James Reilly

Days/CoM were important to the story as well you can’t just glance past that since those events are brought up in the other titles. Recoded granted was pretty much “why?”, but maybe the remix game will make the story more meaningful with the additional cut scenes

Herok♞

I was excluding those 2 for the sake of argument since they don’t have any major reveals, that make the story completely different if you haven’t played them. I consider all of the games to be important, I just feel they aren’t as important as the main entries.

Ferchenko

Expecting to see more characters from FF, Disney, etc., but with new looks and costumes

3PointDecoupage

I wanna see Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all.growed up

Ferchenko

yeah

Alex TSi

Even don’t know …
I really don’t like all that attraction park objects and Keyblade transformation – they look to more childish, more, than I want to …

I wonder what else they are going to make the Keyblade turn into. Maybe they’ll make the Keyblade be able to can transform into other Disney characters or something…a bit of a stretch but it would be cool. Yeah I definitely want more playable characters for Kingdom Hearts 3. Can’t wait for the game.

Sol Eternelle

Lemme guess… a fire, a star, a rock, a ring, a whip, a cake, a doll, a nail, a ball, a yoyo, a dice, a desk, a harp, a bike, a bear, a pair of fans, or a book. Cauze the ____ has 4 letters I listed everything that is probable to be used as a weapon.

Ronldbx6

Can’t wait to see a trailer more about the story.

Anime10121

Well unfortunately, you’ll be waiting at least a year or two before we start seeing story trailers :(

Eilanzer

I never played a kingdom hearts game, cause i hate disney stuff…The gameplay/story is good enough even with disney crap in it?!

Invisbin

You’d be more surprised how the game mixes FF and Disney stories without altering Disney movie storylines.

RedDragon10

Would love to see some interaction between a more grown up tidus and a version of Yuna that isn’t part of the gullwings

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